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James Ellison and Rhodes & Sinon under investigation by Chester County District Attorney

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James Ellison, a Harrisburg attorney: âThere are two types of leaders. There are the front leaders. ... And then there are servant leaders. The people who are doing some of the heavy lifting, who assist in coming up with the ideas. Thatâs the role Iâve embraced.â
(Dan Gleiter, The Patriot-News, 2009)

Attorney and former Harrisburg power broker James Ellison, of the law firm Rhoads & Sinon, is under investigation by the Chester County District Attorney for possible obstruction of justice and overbilling of the Coatsville Area School District.

Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan announced yesterday that he was investigating Ellison and his law firm for criminal conduct, saying the firm's representation of the district had cost taxpayers millions.

Hogan also said Ellison and the Coatesville School Board "appear to be attempting to obstruct, evade and delay" his investigation into alleged kickbacks involving high school summer sports programs.

Hogan said, "They have delayed or refused to produce basic documents. They have attempted to block [school] employees and representatives from providing information to the Commonwealth. They have taken steps to harass, intimidate, and bully the whistleblowers who initially reported wrongdoing."

"None of this conduct will derail this investigation," said Hogan, "but it gives the appearance to all involved that [the district] and its solicitor have no interest in allowing the truth to be uncovered."

Coatesville School Board President Neil Campbell disputed the district attorney's charges and expressed confidence in Ellison, saying his representation had saved district taxpayers millions.

However, District Attorney Hogan said, "Because the solicitor and his law firm are now being investigated for their own conduct, the solicitor and his law firm have a legal conflict of interest, and may no longer represent Coatesville Area School District in this investigation."

Hogan said, "Sometimes the best was to get out of a hole is to put down the shovel and stop digging."

Tuesday afternoon Rhoads & Sinon issued the following statement:

"Rhoads & Sinon rejects
any implication that the Chester County DA has made regarding alleged
impropriety on our part. We, and the Coatesville Area School District,
have cooperated and will continue to cooperate, with the D.A.'s investigation.
All relevant evidence has been protected and preserved, and the School District
has undertaken its own internal investigation into some of the same issues that
apparently are the subject of the D.A.'s investigation."

According to the statement, "Thousands
of pages of documents have been turned over to the D.A. so far. All
unprivileged documents that the D.A. has the legal authority to request have
been produced to him or are in the process of being produced. Rhoads
& Sinon will continue to cooperate with the D.A.'s reasonable requests as
he concludes his investigation."

At the time, the law firm's spokesman Peter Shelly said, "We stand behind the counsel we provided."

Shelly said, "We view this as a very favorable settlement" as the law firm's payment was "a small fraction" of the overall $2.4 million settlement.

Last year, Ellison was ordered to pay a $2,297 fine as part of an agreement ending a state ethics commission probe that found, in part, that he improperly steered work toward his law firm while he was Chairman of the Harrisburg Authority.

According to news reports, Rhoads & Sinon made approximately $2.4 million for its work with the school district and Harrisburg Authority.

Ellison also served as treasurer of Linda Thompson's successful 2009 campaign to unseat Stephen R. Reed as mayor of Harrisburg.

NOTE: This story has been updated from the original to include the statement from Rhoads & Sinon.

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